The Tsar’s Summer Palace
Russia 2009 On the outskirts of St. Petersburg
The palace, called the Catherine Palace, is named for the wife of Peter the Great. Originally it was a small residence. Empress Marie, the daughter of Peter and Catherine I, built the huge palace that you see in the photo. She spared no expense to make her palace more beautiful than Versailles. She had used nearly 300 pounds of gold to decorate the exterior by the time the palace was completed in 1756.
This side of the palace looks onto a reflecting pool. I did walk down to get that shot. I always try to get the ‘reflection shot’ if I can. Just to show that I was thinking if nothing else. But here, I liked the swirly geometry of the formal garden. I thought of removing this little gumdrop of an evergreen that sits in the left corner. It wouldn’t have been easy, but I did give it one try and then realized it balanced the palace.
The day was overcast intensifying the brilliant blue paint. Funny, but when I was in Kyrgyzstan, many of the houses were painted this shade of blue, even the park benches at the Prezewalski Museum. Our guide said the reason for all the blue paint was that no other color was available. Do you think the blue paint was left over from the Summer Palace???